Supplier Requirements
for Smart Metering (SRSM) Project
Starting from September 2006, the SRSM project at the ERA has been at the heart of smart metering developments within Great Britain. Working alongside the ERA members and industry experts, the project team has delivered a series of core products, many of which have been subject to consultation and comment.
Details of some of these key products are shown below.
Part of the role of the project is to keep abreast of European and other international smart metering activities, alongside managing relationships with a host of British energy and metering stakeholders.
Since starting work in 2006, the project has worked through a number of stages:
The initial work of the project established agreed principles and requirements for interoperability and smart meter functionality for gas and electricity metering.
Building upon the outputs from Phase I, the project team worked to create proposals and options for a full Operational Framework for smart metering - more detail of which is presented below.
- SRSM & Beyond (Sep 07-present)
Following the publication of the Operational Framework, the project team has worked on a number of wider industry initiatives associated with smart metering. Key among these has been providing responses to the Government on several consultations. The project has also supported the government project by developing the products for their WAN communications workstream in consultation with a wide stakeholder group. These products consider the requirements and introduce some of the technology options for how smart metering systems will communicate with the remote systems of parties authorised to access them.
Work has been ongoing to develop elements of the Operational Framework, and an update to the August 2007 document is expected in 2009.
The team has also delivered the Local Communications Development Report in 2008, working with a wide range of industry experts and stakeholders to consider the requirements and solutions for how smart meters will communicate within a home. More detail on this process is also shown below.
A short overview of the key outputs from the SRSM project is presented below.
Smart Metering Operational Framework Proposals and Options
The purpose of the Smart Metering Operational Framework Proposals and Options (Operational Framework) is to define a framework for the operation of smart metering in Great Britain.
The key objective of the Operational Framework is to create an interoperable platform for smart metering:
"Once a gas or electricity meter point has a smart meter installed under the operational framework, suppliers will retain a smart meter at those premises. There will be arrangements defined to address the issue of stranded smart metering assets installed under the operational framework. Operational framework-compliant smart metering systems will be able to operate with a succession of operational framework compliant-authorised parties over the life of the meter."
This objective provides an energy supplier with protection for smart metering systems they choose to install which are compliant with the Operational Framework.
Without this guarantee of interoperability, energy suppliers would probably need to replace proprietary smart meters when a customer changes gas electricity supplier, leaving the previous supplier at risk of bearing outstanding costs for the replaced meter.
To meet this objective, the Operational Framework has defined a number of non-functional elements as well as functional elements relating to:
- Data transfer definition and communications solution options
- Metering system definition and solution options
- Business process definitions
- Local device definitions
The Operational Framework contains the Smart Meter Functional Specification, which defines the functions and features of a smart meter in a set of functional requirements. (During 2008, the project team updated the Smart Meter Functional Specification, v1.1 is available to download).
The Operational Framework also shows the context of how smart metering will operate in parallel with existing industry operations and how it may operate in the future.
The Operational Framework was defined to operate smart metering in the current energy market and with consideration of the current market design. As a result, some of the content may not be consistent with developments since its publication in August 2007.
Operational Framework Summary & Availability
The summary of the Operational Framework presents the content in a digestible shortened form.
If, after reading this summary, you would like to receive a full version of the Operational Framework, then please email the ERA project manager, Jason Brogden.
Distribution of full versions of the Operational Framework is wholly at the discretion of the ERA.
Local Communications Development Report
Throughout 2008, the SRSM project worked with a group of over 100 national and international experts to develop a report on the principles, requirements and options for smart metering communications within a home.
The full report, which contains extensive information on a range of associated topics and full desktop evaluation of six potential solution technologies is available to download.
A summary version of this document is also available.
As part of this exercise, the SRSM project has maintained a public website containing all of the papers, meeting minutes and associated information.
WAN Communications Activity for DECC(BERR)
In 2008, the SRSM project team undertook an exercise on behalf of a Government department (this department was BERR at the time the exercise started, but is now the newly created department, DECC) to produce documentation relating to smart metering Wide Area Network (WAN) communications. Where the Local Communications work discussed above covers smart metering communication within a home, this activity looked at communication 'to and from a home'.
The aim of the workstream was to provide accessible information on the requirements and options for smart metering communications, allowing all interested parties to have the same high level understanding of the topics and to encourage discussion amongst participants. The contents of these documents do not, in any way, constitute recommendations by the ERA or DECC.
Three papers on WAN communications are available to download:
All of the above are final versions of these documents, following consultation with a wide audience of industry stakeholders and resulting updates made by the project team, which are summarised in this paper.
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